The National Australia Bank has joined the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Bank in raising the interest rates it charges property investors, following measures announced by the banking regulator.
NAB will lift variable interest rates on interest-only home loans and line of credit facilities by 0.29 percentage points.
Interest-only loans are the predominant structure for investors.
In December 2014, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) imposed a so-called “speed-limit” on banks, instructing them to restrict growth in investor lending to 10 per cent a year in response to concerns about strong growth in the sector.
“In considering these and a range of other factors, NAB is confident the steps we are taking are the right approach to further support responsible lending practices,” NAB group executive, personal banking, Gavin Slater said on Monday.
“In an environment of record low interest rates, NAB believes it is important to encourage our customers to pay down their home loan.”
For new loans, the changes to NAB’s interest-only variable rate will take effect from August 10, 2015.
The change for existing interest-only variable rate loans will take effect from September 10, 2015.
Changes to NAB’s fixed rate interest-only loans will be effective from August 10, 2015.
Changes to NAB’s line of credit loans will be effective from September 10, 2015.
The Commonwealth Bank last week announced it would lift its variable rate on investor home loans by 0.27 percentage points, while fixed rate investor loans would go up between 0.10 percentage points and 0.40 percentage points.
ANZ was the first major bank to increase interest rates in response to APRA, lifting its variable residential investment property loan rate by 0.27 percentage points.